Severe Weather Alert

Eau Claire County farmer installs tallest wind turbine in the county

Augusta, Wis. (WEAU) -- If you're heading along highway 12 near Augusta you may notice something new along the horizon. It's the first wind turbine in Eau Claire County. Matt Gabler has owned his farm for more than 30 years. He's always had an interest in renewable energy, but after a trip in 2010 to Germany. It inspired him to look into installing a wind turbine on his farm.

"Out in the country like this. This is the best place for it," says Gabler. He got a $20,000 grant from the USDA as part of its Rural Energy for America program.

This is Eau Claire County’s tallest wind turbine. It is 140 ft. in height, and when it comes to putting up the county's tallest turbine it's all about location.

"This area is actually an excellent area. What you want to be is 30 to 40 feet above your highest object within a 500 foot radius, and that's where you get your best wind...your best production," explains Mike Tomashevsky. He owns Mike’s Windpower Systems, which installed the turbine on the Gabler farm.

The wind turbine should produce 20% beyond what the farm uses. “You have a dual meter that's installed so when you generate electricity that you're not using it goes back on the grid, and they actually pay you the same rate they charge you. It’s definitely a long term investment. It's not something that's going to pay back rapidly. However, we're looking expecting maybe a 7 to 10 year payback," says Gabler.

"The farmers have the best advantage with the USDA grant. They have the 30% tax credit that still is available yet. They can also take the rapid depreciation," says Tomashevsky.

The USDA grant is taking applications and will likely have plenty of funding once the farm bill is worked out in congress. "The hope is that everything will be passed here soon and we'll be able to fund as we have in the past," says Kevin Tuttle with the USDA.

"It’s not meant to take the place of all other forms of energy. It's just part of the tool kit," says Tuttle.

The comment sections of our web set are designed for thoughtful, intelligent conversation and debate. We want to hear from the viewers but we are not obligated to post comments we feel inappropriate or violate our guidelines. Here are some of the criteria you should follow when posting comments:

Comments cannot be profane or vulgar. Children and families visit this site. We will delete comments that use profanity or cross the lines of good taste.

We will delete all comments using hate speech. Slurs, stereotypes and violent talk aren’t welcome on our web site.

Comments should not attack other readers personally.

We will delete comments we deem offensive, in bad taste, or out of bounds. We are not obligated to post comments that are rude or insensitive.

We do not edit user-submitted comments.

As a host WEAU 13 News welcomes a wide spectrum of opinions. However, we have a responsibility to all our readers to try to keep our comment section fair and decent. For that reason WEAU 13 News reserves the right to not post or to remove any comment.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.